Former agent: Attacks on FBI dangerous, ill-informed (Delaware Voice)

Amid the growing chorus of misleading and disingenuous statements alleging bias among individuals and corruption of processes within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), the American people need to know the lengths to which the dedicated men and women of these institutions go to ensure their rights are protected.

It is most unsettling that these allegations have come not just from the usual hyperbolic media sources, but from the highest levels of our own government. Whatever their motivations, Congressmen, Senators and even those in the White House have made allegations that impugn the integrity of and erode confidence in two major institutions of our judicial system.

For 28 years, until the end of February 1999, I had the privilege of working as a Special Agent in the FBI. The last 19 of those years I was assigned to Wilmington, a satellite office of the Baltimore Division.

In the early 1990s, I was one of two agents who managed a three-year undercover investigation in Delaware that targeted political corruption in the state and New Castle County governments. While much media attention is given to undercover investigations when they ultimately become public, the behind-the-scenes control and oversight of these operations are complex and rigid.

One of my responsibilities was writing the initial and periodic proposals explaining and justifying the need for such an unusual investigative technique.

The proposals were exacting and painstaking to write. They required detailed explanations of the alleged corruption we were investigating, the evidence gathered to that point, who was committing the corruption and how their actions were affecting the honest government citizens rightfully expect.

After thorough review by the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s office, the proposals were sent to the Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Baltimore Division for his scrutiny and signature. Finally, with these approvals obtained, the proposals were forwarded to Washington, where they were reviewed and approved or rejected by a joint committee of DOJ and FBI personnel.

As the investigation proceeded, we had to submit follow-up proposals every six months that demonstrated the accuracy of our initial assessment, the progress we had made and our plans for the investigation over the following six months. Each of these proposals went through the same review process.

It was time-consuming and laborious, but necessary to protect the rights of those we were investigating, and to ensure that we, ourselves, operated within the scope of the laws we were trying to enforce.

I can state unequivocally that the process to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant necessary to monitor the conversations of US citizens and foreign nationals is even more stringent. As with our proposals, there are too many layers of review and approval for these warrants to be distorted for political and partisan ends.

The number of people necessary to conspire to distort the system, as is currently being alleged, is absurd. What’s more, final approval of such warrants rests with the FISA Court, where specially appointed Federal judges review the evidence supporting each submission.

Ironically, while I never took a poll, from my interactions with other Agents over the years it was clear that the majority were conservative and Republican in their political views. I have no doubt that many involved in the current investigation into Russian meddling in our recent elections and any tangential investigations voted Republican in the last election.

Whatever our personal views, we all took great pride in our independence and integrity when it came to our work. To impugn that independence and integrity without hard evidence and due process, the right of every other citizen, is unjust, unfair and unconscionable. Especially when those allegations come from elected officials.

If there was wrongdoing by anyone in the FBI or the DOJ, there are venues to investigate and punish those involved. We cannot, for the sake of partisan ends, allow the destruction of the fabric, independence and integrity of two of the important pillars of our democracy.

Ken Stuller served in the FBI offices in Wilmington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark, NJ, New York and San Francisco. After leaving the FBI, he worked briefly for the State of Delaware, spent over eight years with the DuPont Company, and is now permanently retired.